


Parenthood

by hlizzier23



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: M/M, Married Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Parents Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:40:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24465844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hlizzier23/pseuds/hlizzier23
Summary: Mickey and Ian's daughter get's her first period. They were aware of it, but didn't expect it to happen yet. Mickey tries helping his daughter, but ends up feeling like a bad dad because he has no idea what to do. Mickey then realizes his little girl isn't so little anymore.
Relationships: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Comments: 2
Kudos: 66





	Parenthood

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I had this idea for a while and hope you enjoy. The summary is kind of a mess because I'm not too good at writing them, but basically Ian and Mickey's daughter gets her first period and they are clueless on how to help her. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Mickey and Ian knew this day would come. The day when their little girl became, well, not a little girl anymore. From the day they brought their daughter home, they knew she would grow up. They both knew that one day they were going to have to deal with mood swings, periods, bras, boy trouble and whatever else comes with teenage girls. 

But they didn’t expect the day to come so fast. 

It seemed like just yesterday they brought their little girl, Carter home. It seems like she had just taken her first steps and said her first word. It felt like just yesterday they dropped their little girl off on her first day of school. (Which Mickey did most definitely did not cry at, by the way.) But now here they are with a thirteen year old girl. How did that happen? 

Carter was their little girl. They spoiled the hell out of her but that didn’t matter. She was the one and only kid Mickey and Ian were ever going to have and they wanted to take in every moment they could. It was a miracle two gay, ex-convits, with one being clincially mentally ill were able to even adopt a kid. But they didn’t care if it would be impossible to have another one, they were happy and blessed to have their amazing little girl. 

Carter was the sweetest little girl Ian and Mickey had ever met. Coming from the Southside they grew up with some pretty rough girls, who could easily take anyone out. But Carter wasn’t like that. She was sweet, and quiet and mostly kept to herself. She had long thick brown hair, and huge blue eyes. She was tall, scrawny and covered in freckles just like her dad. Even though she wasn’t either of their biological children, she was still somehow a perfect mix of both Ian and Mickey. 

She was sweet and quiet like Ian, but she could also be tough and funny like Mickey. But they were all really close and every Saturday they had made it a tradition to lay on the couch together and watch movies all day. 

They were all really close, until puberty. 

Mickey and Ian had been warned. They had been told countless times that Carter was going to grow up and she was going to change. At one point she wasn’t going to be their sweet little girl anymore. She was going to hate Ian and Mickey and want absolutely nothing to do with them. Veronica even told them she would probably yell at them for breathing the wrong way. They didn’t believe anyone though. I mean how could their sweet little girl turn on them? 

Well Carter sure has given them a run for their money. 

She was only thirteen but she was definitely going through those teenage puberty changes. Of course she was still sweet, but now they were dealing with bras and boys instead of getting Carter to eat vegetables or getting her to take a nap. 

Mickey and Ian never thought they would ever have to deal with this, but here they are. Their little girl is all grown up. 

\----

It was early on a Monday morning, and no one was in the mood to do anything. The Gallagher-Milkovich’s had a nice relaxing weekend and weren’t ready to start yet another long annoying week. 

To make it all better they were running late. Usually they were out the door by now but Carter wasn’t even downstairs. 

Mickey was scrambling to make breakfast, while Ian tried throwing together something to pack Carter for lunch. 

Ian was pretty ‘anal’ as Mickey would say about having a schedule or routine or whatever the fuck he called it. He needed it though for his mental health, but it always got on Mickey’s nerve and well it was starting to get on Carters too. 

“Fuck, it’s already 7:45,” Ian said scurrining around the kitchen like he was insane. 

“Chill out ginger, it’ll be fine if we're a little late,” Mickey said, observing Ian lose his shit over the fact they were a few minutes late. He loved Ian, but sometimes this fucking ginger giant could be annoying. Mickey had to admit even when he was losing his shit about being late for work, Ian was still really fucking cute. 

Mickey was snapped from his daze of admiring his husband when Carter stomped into the kitchen and sighed extremely dramatically. 

“Well good morning to you too, princess,” Mickey said as his daughter rolled her eyes. That was Carter’s new thing, rolling her eyes. It always pissed Mickey off, but it was most likely that she picked that up from Mickey, so he couldn’t really complain. 

“Has anyone seen my white sneakers?” Carter asked in an annoyed tone. It was also a new thing for her to use that tone. 

Mickey just sighed and ran his hand down his face, he would let Ian handle this one. 

After a few minutes of Ian and Carter running around the house looking for one specific pair of shoes because “none of my other one will match my outfit” they were all finally off to work and school. 

\--  
The day was long and boring but luckily Mickey got off at work at three. He usually never got to go home early so he wasn’t going to let this free time go to waste. Ian had picked up another shift, meaning she wouldn’t be home until late. Carter got out of school at 3:15 but she probably wouldn’t get home until after 3:30. No matter how many times Ian and Mickey offered to drive her home when they could she would refuse. Apparently walking home was the cool thing to do which was really fucking strange to Mickey. How does walking home from school make you cool? Whatever just as long as Carter was happy. 

Mickey got home and rushed to the fridge to grab a cold one. It had been a long day of dealing with annoying co-workers, so it was much needed. He then sat on the couch and flipped on the tv. It was almost 3:30 meaning Carter would be home any minute so he was going to take in this peace and quiet while it lasted. 

Mickey grew up and chaos so he was used to it. His life right now was obviously nothing near as chaotic, but it was always nice to just sit alone in silence and relax. 

The quiet was interrupted by the front door slamming shut and then the loud stops of Carter. Mickey could always tell it was Carter walking around because her steps were always so loud. Somehow this girl who weighed no more than 95 pounds sounded like an elephant when she walked around the house. 

Mickey turned around to greet Carter but she just completely ignored him and flew up the steps. It was obvious something was going on with her, but Mickey had learned more from experience that when she was like this it was the best to leave her alone. When she was pissed off for whatever reason the best thing to do was let her cool off and come to them when she was ready to talk. 

Mickey knew it was probably about boys or friend drama. She was only in middle school, but man were those kids ruthless. One day they’re bullying her for being flat chested and the next they’re making fun of her for having two dads. 

He thought nothing of it until he heard muffled cries coming from upstairs. Carter was strong and only cried when she was really hurt. She was a tough kid and not much made her cry, so whatever happened had to have been not good. 

Without thinking Mickey ran upstairs to comfort his daughter and figure out which son of a bitch thirteen year old he needed to beat up. 

But he was stopped by a locked door. 

“Carter,” He said while quietly knocking on the door. “Can you let me in so we can talk?” He continued. 

Carter reminded Mickey a lot of him. She hated talking about her feelings. She would let whatever was bothering her bubble up until she couldn’t handle it anymore. Both Ian and Mickey had tried to help her be more comfortable talking about her feelings, but age definitely hasn’t helped. The best thing to do was to be patient and he knew that. 

After he got no response Mickey pleaded with his daughter again. Finally after a few more moments he could hear footsteps and then the lock clicked. 

Mickey slowly opened the door to reveal his daughter curled up into the blankets on her bed. For the most part her face was covered by the bunched up blankets, but he could tell her face was red from crying. Every time he saw his daughter like this his heart broke. Becoming a dad made him soft, but he could care less. He wanted his daughter to be safe and happy more than anything. He would literally take a bullet for this girl. 

He sat down on the bed next to Carter and slowly rubbed her back. She buried her face into her blankets as the sobs got louder. Whatever was going on, it was really making her upset, and Mickey hated it. He couldn’t handle seeing her sad anymore. 

“You wanna tell me what happened?” Mickey asked and again got nothing in return. So he tried one more time. “Hey Carter c’mon. You can tell me anything, you know that,” Mickey said in a soft loving tone that he’s only started using since becoming a dad. 

Finally Carter sat up in bed. Now Mickey could see her full face. Her eyes were ringed with bright red and tears. Her cheeks were flushed and her lip was quivering. Without a word she leaned over and wrapped her arms around Mickey and held him in a tight squeeze. 

Somehow she began crying even harder, to the point where her whole body was shaking. 

“Carter, please just tell me what’s going on, you’re really worrying me,” Mickey said. At this point he had no clue what to do but he was really worried. He hadn’t seen his daughter this upset in a while. 

Finally she looked up at him with those big blue eyes. She looked like she was trying to form a sentence but couldn’t find the right words to say. It was like she was embarrassed to tell her dad what was going on. 

“I- I got my period at school today,” Carter said as she buried her face back into Mickey’s shirt. 

Oh. Mickey was definitely not expecting that. He knew this would happen at one point, but he didn’t think today would be the day. Veronica and Debbie and everyone else who was parents to girls warned Mickey and Ian about this. Even now that she was at the age where girls started their period they just hadn't expected it for some reason.

Just because he knew about it doesn’t mean either him or Ian were prepared for it. 

Mickey genuinely had no idea what to do or say. He couldn’t relate to what was happening. I mean he doesn’t bleed out of his dick for 3-7 days every month. Sure, he had a sister, but she never told him about period stuff. He just knew that around the same time every month she would be in a bad mood and craved chocolate for a few days. 

This was one of the hard parts of having two dads. Mickey knew Carter struggled sometimes with not having a mom, but this situation was definitely the worst. She didn’t have anyone she could talk to about this with and have them truly understand or even know what to do. 

She had aunts, but he knew this had to be one of those things you really only felt comfortable talking to your parents about. But he honestly didn’t know. 

“Oh,” Is all he could spit out. Carter just nuzzled her head into his chest more and continued crying. 

Mickey was at a loss at what to do. He wasn’t going to call Ian either, because well he definitely wouldn't know what to do. In most situations Ian knew exactly how to fix it, but this wasn’t one of those. All he could think to do right now was to comfort her. 

“Is there anything I can do,” Mickey asked. There really wasn’t anything he could do, but it was worth a shot to ask. 

“No. But what am I supposed to do about it?” Carter asked while trying to control her tears. 

Oh shit! Mickey totally forgot about the whole pad and tampon thing. Did he need to buy them for her? I mean he didn’t think she had any. Mickey had never really seen a pad or tampon before, I mean he grew up with mostly men and spent most of his life in prison with only men. Wait, was he going to have to teach her how to use that stuff? He didn’t have any idea how that shit worked. 

“Um… Honestly I’m not really sure. I’ve never really had to deal with something like this before,” Mickey said back to his daughter. I mean that was the truth. He wasn’t going to lie to his daughter, he knew just as much as she did. “Do you mind if I call one of your aunts or Veronica? I’m really sorry but I really don’t know what to do,” Mickey said. He felt really bad. This was one of the only times he didn’t know how to help his daughter and he felt awful about it. 

Carter just nodded her head. At this point she didn’t care who knew, she was just scared and wanted to know how to deal with it. 

Mickey and Ian told her about all the girl stuff that would happen to her, so she was aware of it. But that didn’t mean they knew too much about it. They honestly just weren’t ready for it to happen yet. But I mean she was thirteen, so they should’ve been more prepared. 

Mickey placed a kiss on his daughter's head and reached for the phone. He didn’t have Mandy’s number, Debbie was definitely working, so he decided to try Veronica first. She would know what to do, she always did. 

He shot her a quick text and she replied immediately. She told Mickey he needed to go to the store and get her supplies. She sent some pictures of what he should get and said she would stop by the house later and help Carter. Thank God for Veronica. 

So, Mickey went to the store to get what Carter needed. He never thought he would be in the feminine hygiene aisle, but here he is looking for pads and tampons. Why the fuck did there have to be so many kinds? How was anyone supposed to figure out what to get. Like what is the difference between wings or no wings? And what about the sizes of them. This was confusing, but it was Mickey’s life now. 

He got what Veronica recommended and thankfully she was there to help Carter when he got home. 

MIckey felt awful for not knowing what to do. Carter must’ve been so overwhelmed and then her dad was just as clueless as her when it came to how to deal with periods. He was also scared. This means Carter was officially a woman. She was so grown up now. It seemed like just yesterday she was a tiny baby and now she’s a woman. Where did the time go? 

Veronica was a lifesaver though. She helped Carter and even educated Mickey a little on periods and all that stuff. And man was there a lot of stuff about them. Mickey now had even more respect for women. He couldn’t imagine going through all of that. 

\----  
It was around 10 at night when Ian got home. It had been a crazy day and Mickey was exhausted. Luckily after Veronica left Carter was feeling better, though. Mickey still felt like a bad father for not knowing what to do. 

Mickey was almost asleep when Ian walked into the room. 

“Hey,” Ian said as he kissed Mickey. “How was your day?” He continued as he began to undress. 

“Um, well it was kind of crazy,” Mickey said as he recalled the events of the day in his head. Ian looked at him with an interested look so he continued. “Well, Carter got her period,” 

“Oh… Is she ok? I’m sorry I could’ve been here to help you,” Ian replied taken by surprise from what he just heard leave his husband's mouth. It would’ve been nice to have Ian there, but he wouldn't have been any help. He was just as clueless as Mickey when it came to periods. 

“Yeah. She was pretty upset, but I called Veronica to come and help,” Mickey said fidgeting with the silver band on his finger. “I just feel like a shit dad for not knowing how to help her,” Mickey continued. 

“Mick, you’re an amazing dad. It’s ok you didn’t know what to do, I mean how would you? It’s not like you have a period,” Replied Ian as he continued to get ready for bed. “She’s going to be just fine Mickey don’t worry.”

“I know, it’s just really weird to see our little girl growing up,” Mickey said so quietly Ian almost didn’t hear. 

“I know man, it’s crazy. But no matter what she’s still going to be our little girl,” Ian said while he cupped Mickey’s face. 

And he knew. He knew Carter would always be their little girl. Periods, boys, drama or any of that other stuff wouldn’t change it. It was just weird for both of them to see their little girl growing up so fast.

But that’s part of being a parent. Watching your child grow up and become an amazing person, and Ian and Mickey knew that.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I started this a while ago, so it's kind of choppy, but I hope you still liked it. Please feel free to leave comments and kudos. - Lizzie


End file.
